New Year's Eve

Walk/Run 30 minutes on treadmill

What's with the weight gain?

Well . . . after one week down with a cold . . . and five days of Christmas feasting . . . it's small wonder my weight is up slightly.

Average weight for week: 234.14 lb, up 1.14 lb

On the hills

Walk hills 35 minutes on treadmill, 10 minutes weights

Back at it again

Restarting slowly after a week off because of a nasty cold.

Walk 15 minutes, Elliptical 5 mins, Weights 10 mins

Down with a cold

Third day of sniffling and wheezing, without any exercise other than preparations for Christmas.

Average weight for week: 233.0 lb, down only 0.6 lb, but at least it's down

Taking a rest day

My pulse was up 10 percent this morning and I feel a slight soreness in my throat, so I better back off today.

Nothing out of the ordinary

That's the way we like our workouts, no pain, no panic, nothing untoward.

Walk/Run 30 minutes on treadmill

At least the 30-minute minimum

Ride 15, Weights 10, Elliptical 5 minutes

Back at it once more

As I took a second day of rest on the weekend, I upped the Monday workout by 20 percent--and it went well.

Walk/Run 30 minutes on treadmill

Stormy Sunday

Unsure if I'm going to get out for a long walk today as there is a blizzard forecast for all day and night.

Average weight for week: 233.6 lb, down only 0.4 lb

Wrapping up Week 3

No dizziness or anything untoward during or after the workout today, probably because I took it easy.

Walk/Run 35 minutes on treadmill

What's with the dizziness?

I had another bout of dizziness or light-headedness after the workout. During the workout I felt just fine. In fact, I marvelled at how well I was getting back into walking/running regularly.

Two of the three medications I take, diltiazem in the morning to prevent arrhythmia and perindopril at night to control hypertension, list dizziness and light-headedness as side effects.

When I see my physician in a couple of weeks for refills, I'll bring this up, and ask him to schedule the stress test we talked about last time I saw him. I haven't had a stress test for five years or more.

Whatever it is, it's not BP related as this morning I was 134/84 and tonight I'm 133/77.

Walk/Run 25 mins

That damn BP!

Just when I saw 128/82 on the blood pressure monitor this morning--the lowest reading in years--and thought I was doing quite well, a story appeared in today's paper:

High blood pressure and chronic disease go hand in hand

Here's the part that really got me:

Healthy adults should have a blood pressure of 120/80 millimetres of mercury (mmHg) or better. A person is considered hypertensive with a blood pressure reading of 140/90 or higher.

In other words, I've been hypertensive or on the verge for years, probably close to a decade and half.

When I look at sites of American Heart Association and Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, I realize that my 128/82 this morning was welcome and close to normal, but I'm still afflicted with prehypertension, even at that reading.

So . . . I push on, ever onward, to get the weight down.

Ride 30 mins on stationary bike, 10 mins with weights

A jogger, but not by name

Week 3 back in the game started nicely. The running intervals during the walk/run workout are quite slow--Jogging, really, but I cannot think of myself as a jogger--4.2 to 4.4 mph, or 14.3 to 13.6 minutes per mile. The walk intervals are 2.8 to 3.2 mph.

Walk/Run 25 minutes

Grey morning

Walk 53 minutes to Lake Ontario, rushed for time so no going long today
Average weight for the week: 234.0 lb, down 1.6 (Yippee!)

Run, Fat Boy, Run!

Are you ready for this? Here's the synopsis for a new running movie released in the U.K.:

"A chunky, clueless guy leaves his fiancee on their wedding day only to discover – some 10 years later – that she is his one true love. But in order to win back her heart, he looks to finish his first marathon while making her realize her new man is the wrong guy for her."

Certain to win an Oscar, isn't it?

Be sure to check out the trailer.

Hello, hamstring, greetings, shin!

At the end of the second week back, my left hamstring and right shin are letting me know they are on the job and not liking it. Hopefully, easy stretching and a long walk between now and Monday will let them recuperate.

Walk/Run 35 minutes on treadmill

Reps vs pounds in weight training

What is the best approach to use with weights when not aiming to bulk up but looking to drop pounds? I know I should be stressing the number of reps rather than the weight, but how many reps is best? Fifteen, 20, 25 or 30, or what?

iVillage Total Health seems to says the it doesn't matter much whether you do many reps with few pounds, or fewer reps with more pounds. Burning calories is all that counts.

One poster at Peer Trainer had this to offer:

The studies the referenced could both be true, and I believe that they are. Here's what I've learned through years of internet search and research, confirmed by a number of other people with similar backgrounds (i.e. we don't claim to be experts, but have done a good deal of work looking into these things):

To build tone without bulk, lift what you can do 3 sets of 12 reps with. You should be worn out at the end, and unable to do a 4th set. That's how heavy a weight you should use.

To build more muscle mass, do the same, but with enough weight that you can do 3 sets of 6 or 8. So, heavier weights for less reps.

Light weights with more reps does not mean lifting a 2lb weight 40 times in a row, and not being all that tired in the end. You should be getting a good, hard workout either way. Your muscles should be tired afterwards. You should need to stretch well afterwards. When you first start a program, you should be sore the day after. If you aren't working hard, you're essentially wasting your time.

Sounds like a plan to me.

Ride 30 mins stationary bike, Weights 20 mins

The treadmill and I

I suspect we will become good friends, the treadmill and I, over the next three months of winter.

Walk/Run 30 minutes, no time for bike tonight

Workout plan for the winter

My program for the winter months is to walk/run indoors on the treadmill three days a week and pedal the stationary bike and lift weights on at least two other days. Saturdays I rest, Sundays I walk more than one hour.

I'd like to work up to an hour for each workout during the week and two hours on Sundays. My main goal is to lose weight before I begin any serious running again. The plan is to get down to my high school weight as a 65th birthday gift to myself. Which means I still have 50-something pounds to go.

But the most important goal is to avoid injury and layoff in order to continue exercising, so easy does it, eh?

Ride 15 mins stationary bike, Weights 15 mins

Phew!

Walk/Run 25 mins on treadmill, Ride 15 mins on stationary bike

Winter storm

The footing wasn't the greatest after the first storm of winter but I persevered to the lake and back, slipping and sliding much of the way. Sure did notice the hamstrings, after my last workout, but stretching has helped.

Walk 55 minutes
Average weight for the week: 235.57 lb, down 0.4
Average morning BP for November: 137/88